India trail by 307 runs after rain wipes out final session
Brisbane, Australia - Rain washed out the final session of day two with the fourth Test poised intriguingly. Having bowled Australia out for 369 by lunch, India made a solid start to their reply before Rohit Sharma fell against the run of play to put the hosts on top. India will resume at 62 for two, with Cheteshwar Pujara, who has already batted for more than an hour, and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease.
Rohit and Shubman Gill saw out the first six overs, bowled by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, without too much discomfort - other than a Starc delivery that jagged away off a crack to beat Rohit's outside edge - before a bowling change brought Australia their breakthrough.
Through this series, Pat
Cummins has forced the righthand batsmen to play at his deliveries in the corridor with his pronounced inward angle, and then got the ball to straighten off the seam to find their outside edges. He did just that with his second ball, and Gill, felt for the ball and edged to second slip.
Rohit, meanwhile, was looking entirely at ease with the bowling and the conditions, getting right behind the line to defend, and driving handsomely down the ground when the bowlers erred on the full side.
Having moved to 40 with one such drive off Green, he picked up another boundary in the next over, punching Nathan Lyon through the covers when he dropped short. Just when he seemed on course for a matchdefining contribution, however, he stepped out to Lyon and holed out attempting a lofted hit. It was a familiar moment for those who have followed his career - he's been out in similar fashion to Moeen Ali in Southampton in 2014, Dane Piedt in Delhi in 2015 and Lyon in Adelaide during India's 2018-19 tour of Australia - and one whose repercussions could yet be felt through the rest of this match.
Australia lost their five remaining wickets during the morning session while adding 95 to their overnight total, in 28.1 overs. Much like the entirety of day one, it was a session to please or displease neither team.
The overnight pair of Cameron Green and Tim Paine extended their sixth-wicket stand from 61 to 98 without too much trouble. But soon after Paine had brought up his halfcentury, a loose shot pried the door open for India. He drove away from his body at a Shardul Thakur outswinger, with no movement of the feet, and edged to second slip. Within the space of the next two overs, India seemed to have burst through the opening, as Washington Sundar bowled Green, and Thakur had Cummins lbw playing all around a low full-toss.
Having reduced Australia to 315 for eight, however, India's bowlers showed their inexperience, bowling too short or too full in an effort to blast out the tail. Lyon and Starc took full toll in a ninth-wicket stand of 39 off just 40 balls. Even Josh Hazlewood, the No 11, played a couple of spanking off-side drives before T Natarajan came back into the attack and knocked back his off stump with a near-yorker.
Karachi, Pakistan - The South African cricket team arrived in Karachi on Saturday to play two Tests and three Twenty20 internationals on their first tour of Pakistan in 14 years.
The team, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, was whisked from the airport under state-head level security accorded by the hosts, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The 21-member squad had two COVID-19 tests before their departure from Johannesburg which all came back negative, and they will be further tested on their arrival.
Officials say the squad will stay in individual isolation until the results of the first round of testing are released before they start training in a ground adjacent to their hotel. Pakistan and South Africa will play the first Test in Karachi from January 26.
The second Test starts in Rawalpindi from February 4 while Lahore will host all three Twenty20 internationals on February 11, 13 and 14.
South Africa squad:
Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Kyle Verreynne, Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde, Daryn Dupavillon, Marco Jansen
Masood, Abbas, Sohail dropped
Karachi, Pakistan - Shan Masood, Haris Sohail and Mohammad Abbas have all been dropped for Pakistan's two-match Test series against South Africa in a dramatically overhauled squad. The home series also sees several newcomers in the 20-man squad, with Haris Rauf, Imran Butt, Kamran Ghulam and Salman Ali Agha among a slew of players brought into the fold.
The 20-man squad will be whittled down to 16 in the coming days.
Pakistan Test squad:
Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Fawad Alam, Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Yasir Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tabish Khan.